Hunting – hopes for a promising AGM Trading Update due this week, shares 506p, brokers TP 540p
- Mark Watson-Mitchell
- Apr 13
- 4 min read
Mark Watson-Mitchell - 13.04.2026
This coming Wednesday, 15th April, will see the £740m-capitalised Hunting (LON:HTG) hold its AGM to cover its trading year to end-December 2025.
It is also expected to issue a pre-AGM Trading Update, with the possibility of comment on the progress of potential new contract orders.
This morning, against a lower market, the group’s shares have risen 16.50p to 506p – possibly in anticipation of some bullish comments.
The Business
Established way back in 1874, Hunting today is a global, precision engineering group that provides precision-manufactured equipment and premium services.
It maintains a corporate office in Houston and is headquartered in London.
As well as in the UK, it also has operations in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and the USA.
The group has five main operating segments: Hunting Titan; North America; Subsea Technologies; Europe, Middle East and Africa; and Asia Pacific.
It has five product groups: OCTG (Oil Country Tubular Goods); Perforating Systems; Subsea; Advanced Manufacturing; and Other Manufacturing.
Recent Orders
A week ago, the group announced that it had secured new orders totalling $63.5m for its titanium stress joint product line, destined for a new offshore development in Guyana, with revenue recognition commencing in the second half of 2026 through to May 2028.
This significant award, managed by the Subsea Spring business unit, is in addition to $4.4m in prior orders from other business units for the same development since December 2025, with further incremental orders anticipated throughout 2026.
These orders underscore the success of Hunting's titanium stress joint solution for Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessels and align with the company's strategy to expand its offerings for FPSO vessels and capture greater market share in major subsea projects.
An FPSO unit is a specialised floating vessel used by the offshore oil and gas industry to process, store, and transport hydrocarbons, usually in deep or remote locations.
They act as floating production plants, receiving oil/gas from subsea wells, processing them, and holding the crude oil in tanks until it is transferred to tankers.
CEO Jim Johnson stated that:
"Our TSJ product line, which is a critical component for offshore developments, continues to be adopted on key offshore projects utilising FPSOs, given the maintenance benefits and reliability offered.
We would like to thank our partner in Guyana for its continued confidence in our product offering and look forward to working together in the future with our range of products and solutions.
This order also contributes to our guided subsea product group revenue and EBITDA through to 2028, as published at our subsea investor event held in January 2026."
Group Outlook
The group’s Management has stated that it is closely monitoring the evolving situation in the Middle East, while also noting that its financial outlook remains robust.
Although some tender and order slippage is possible in the event of a protracted conflict, given its strategic concentration on offshore and subsea markets, alongside its growing international diversification, its 2026 projections carry minimal exposure to the Middle East.
Consequently, while minor timing shifts in orders are possible, the group does not anticipate a material impact on its long-term growth trajectory.
Overall, Hunting is anticipating further earnings growth in the year ahead and, having demonstrated that the group can deliver growth and returns against a challenged macroeconomic backdrop, the Directors remain confident that the group’s skilled workforce will rise to these challenges as it continues to deliver its Hunting 2030 Strategy.
The Equity
There are some 153m shares in issue.
The larger holders include Franklin Templeton (7.23%), Hunting Investment Ltd (6.98%), UBS collateral account (5.21%), Orbis Investment Management (5.11%), Aberdeen Investment Management (5.08%), Oasis Management (5.05%), Schroder Investment Management (4.99%), Hunting Employee Benefit Trust (4.26%), Slaley Investment Ltd (4.07%), Rathbones Investment Management (3.99%), David Hunting assorted (3.31%), J Trafford trustee (3.14%), BlackRock Investment Management (2.07%), and AXA Investment Managers (1.71%).
Analyst View
Daniel Slater, at Zeus Capital, rates the group’s shares as a Buy, with a 540p Target Price.
Following the recent Subsea Contract Award, he noted that this unit made a material contribution to the 2025 results and is now coming into its own.
He considers that the group has demonstrated the benefits of its relatively well-diversified suite of products, helping the company participate in a variety of oil and gas sector activities, alongside wider applications.
His estimates for the current year are for sales of $1,045.5m ($1,018.8m), with adjusted pre-tax profits of $90.6m ($79.7m), generating earnings of 39.2c (34.2c) and a dividend of 14.7c (13.0c) per share.
For the 2027 year, he goes for $1,101.0m sales, $101.0m profits, 44.8c earnings a a 16.6c per share dividend.
This year, he sees the group’s net cash position at $61.5m ($59.0m), progressing to $71.0m next year.
My View
The shares of this 150-year-old group, now 506p, do not reflect its upside prospects.
Daniel Slater’s 540p Target Price looks, to me, to be a conservative objective.
(Profile 15.03.21 @ 275p set a Target Price of 350p*)
(Profile 12.04.23 @ 240p set a Target Price of 300p*)
(Profile 15.01.26 @ 401p set a Target Price of 460p*)
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